An ad hoc network is a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) free of wired infrastructure, and the stations in the ad hoc network are wireless application terminals. In an ad hoc network, two application terminals can communicate with each other directly if the two application terminals are located in the communication coverage of each other. Devices in an ad hoc network sometimes need to share or transmit data in a one-to-one or one-to-many manner, and such devices may make up a Peer-to-Peer (P2P) or Device-to-Device (D2D) network of a wireless star structure additionally. Each P2P network needs to possess a master device of this P2P network. To facilitate network management, a master station may be negotiated in those decentralized networks (such as an ad hoc network or a P2P network), and the master station identifies the network and undertakes the tasks of multicasting and forwarding packets and introducing new network stations under certain conditions.
In the process of implementing the present invention, the inventors find at least the following problems in the prior art. The stations in a decentralized network (such as an ad hoc network and a P2P network) can move in the network randomly, which causes the network topology to change constantly; the network stations are generally powered by batteries, and therefore, the network stations are vulnerable to power failure due to deficient power of the batteries, and the master station may be disconnected from the network abruptly anytime without being predictable to other stations. Because the network is unable to know the disconnection of the master station from the network in time, no new master station is negotiated to maintain and manage the network, which affects normal communication between the network stations.